Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory district, has endorsed the 29-member caretaker committee established by Labour Party’s national leader, Peter Obi, Abia Governor Alex Otti, and other party stakeholders.
The committee, formed last week, aims to oversee a comprehensive national convention.
Kingibe expressed her support at the launch of a four-day free medical outreach, which she organized for her constituents in Abuja. The outreach, held in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, drew large crowds seeking eye examinations, treatments, and cataract referrals.
Represented by her senior legislative aide, Dr. Chris Omofoma, Kingibe criticized the tenure of the current Labour Party National Chairman, Julius Abure, stating that it, along with his National Working Committee, officially ended in June 2023. She pointed out that despite Abure’s resistance to this fact, Otti and Obi had previously sought a one-year extension of Abure’s term to help the party recover from its loss in the 2023 presidential election.
Kingibe highlighted that the National Chairman, Julius Abure, National Secretary Umar Farouk, and National Youth Leader Kennedy Ahanotu were notably absent from a key stakeholder meeting held in Umuahia on Wednesday. Convened by Governor Alex Otti, the meeting aimed to resolve the party’s ongoing leadership crisis. However, the Abure-led committee opposed the Nenadi Usman-led caretaker committee, declaring it “null and void.”
“There is no real crisis in the Labour Party,” Kingibe stated. “Abure’s committee simply refuses to acknowledge that their tenure has ended, a fact confirmed by INEC as of June 2023. While Otti and Obi extended the term by a year to June 8, 2024, for the party’s recovery post-election, that extension has now lapsed.”
She further emphasized her full support for the Nenadi Usman-led committee and called on Abure to accept the end of his tenure and follow the party’s constitution and INEC guidelines.
